A "bald but bearded" (12) 50-year-old surgeon, Dr. Sarvis, or Doc, is an "Episcopalian anarcho-syndicalist libertarian" (189) and environmental activist who gets his kicks burning down billboards on the side of Route 66. Though older and wealthier than his compatriots, the cigar-puffing Doc believes "the evil […] in the food, in the noise, in the crowding, in the stress, in the water, in the air" (180) has caused the rise in cancer he's seen in even his young patients. Doc has a "savage visage" (9) and can be a "wise ass" (76) but is mostly generous and kind to Bonnie and his friends. More educated than the rest of the gang, Doc has a gift with words, often launching into poetic diatribes about the land, or calling out the botanical names of the native plants. Doc finances the gang's operation in full and usually serves as a lookout during their actions. 

A native of the Bronx, 28-year-old Bonnie Abzug is Dr. Sarvis' "office clerk, nurse-aide, and chauffeur" (40), as well as his lover. A former dancer, at 21 Bonnie fell in love with the Southwest when she visited it with her college dance troupe. She decided to stay in Albuquerque and has lived in her geodesic dome since.